Evolve and Survive (Rewritten)
by StylishDescent
Summary: A war wages on in Tachion City. Fighting against a black ops unit with the Resistance, a group of hybrids must uncover the darkest secrets of the city-state and a mysterious organisation's agenda while defeating said unit. Morals, strength of will and the like will be tested, so can the group survive long enough to finish it? Or will they be crushed by their adversaries?
1. Prologue

Prologue: And It Begins

Five screens activated, the dim light they provided revealed a bespectacled teenage boy with tired amber eyes seated in front of them with a porcelain cup of coffee on the desk. His long, disheleved hair was prematurely gray, and his skin an unhealthy pale as though he had not seen light for many years, a fact that he might actually admit to be true. His clothing was much neater in comparison to his hair; a dark blue button-up shirt, a slightly baggy pair of burgundy pants and dress shoes. He also wore a white lab-coat with faint stains of organic matter and chemicals. An insignia of his workplace GeneLight, that of a DNA molecule inside of a star, was emblazoned on the right side of the lab coat.

Each screen had a certain number underneath it which doubled represented their codenames from One to Five. To keep themselves anonymous should any stranger manage to eavesdrop on anyone of the six members, the screens showed a line that moves in accordance to the voice frequency of their owners instead of their faces. As a secondary measure, each voice had a modulator to make it even harder to identify the actual persons behind them.

Truth be told, the young scientist felt out of place no matter how many times he participated in the meetings with the other five. After all, he was the youngest at fifteen years old, turning sixteen in two months. He believed that his great intellect might have been key, but two others amongst them had similarly bright minds. Then again, he was the overseer of many experiments conducted by GeneLight. Not director or CEO, but still it was a very high achievement for his age.

"In attendence," One stated in a monotonous, yet authoriative voice, "the First Generation. Reports?"

Two was the first to respond. "HADES and the Resistance are still fiercely fighting for territories, though it seems that the former organisation has expanded a little more than Six've calculated through terror and other means. Brutes, the lot of them."

Yes, Six was the scientist's codename. Six simply sat in his swivel chair, not once rebutting that his calculations did not include any outside factors. Since each number was before his, it meant they were older than him by age, and he respected his seniors. If memory were to serve him well, One was thirty and Two twenty-eight.

The HADES Biological Unit, or HADES for simplicity's sake, was a black ops military organisation according to his research and agents from within the ranks. From what he had heard from his colleagues, HADES was very secretive in its unethical operations. Rumours had it that if there was a leak, the higher-ups would go to great lengths to cover up. One fellow scientist spoke of a purge of those involved, though she wasn't clear if the victims had bullets between their eyes or used as lab rats. Whatever it was, Six did not want to find out. He would rather conduct experiments, not become one.

"On my end, bio-scans on our bodies have yield results, and none of it good," the twenty-five year old Three grumbled. Six remembered that Three's occupation was that of a medical expert or something similar. If Three said you're going to die in a couple of weeks thanks to one disease or another, you might want to start writing a will as soon as possible. "I'll give everyone except Six between one and three years. Sad to say, the runt of this litter has only a couple of months to live, three at best."

Three months. The scientist couldn't believe his ears, slumping back onto his chair in despair. The graying male understood that his condition was constantly deteriorating, but to think that his heart would give out so soon made him tear up a little.

Sucking it up and wiping the tears off, Six muttered, "Just some more incentive to clear this madness up, right Four and Five?"

"Indeed," agreed Four.

"We'll get it done in no time!" seconded Five.

Four and Five were the closest to him age wise. On average, the two were about eighteen years of age and graduated from the same university and at the same time as he did. How blessed Six felt to be able to work with such brilliant minds, even if it was for a short while. He'd even managed to score a relationship with Five, something he had never expected considering that he was as interesting as the cafetaria floor.

"Let's hope so. If we're lucky, we can call a vacation in about a week, two at most, _ceteris paribus_ ," sighed Six, looking forward to a trip to a resort to spend the remainder of his days. Maybe Undella Town in Unova, or Larousse City in Hoenn. Anywhere to take him away from the insanity he'd gone through in the island-region city of Tachion and to forget a memory shared by all members of the First Generation.

"Assuming those clowns do not interfere with our operations and everything else is good," grumbled Two.

"That's why I put in _ceteris paribus_ my friend, it means that assuming all factors remain the same. Even without adding the assumption, it is still highly unlikely that-" Six was soon interrupted by the blaring alarms echoing throughout the room. Immediately, the graying male took his eyes off the communicator screens and towards the security feed. "Give me a minute, I'm check... no, no, no!"

What was once a calm expression was now replaced by a mix of confusion and horror. He remembered that he had kept hidden certain experiments for their main objective in a disclosed laboratory that doubled as a safe haven. With a very advanced defense protocol to boot. How anyone, excluding him and his hand-picked team, knew its location and managed to disable the security system puzzled him. What was worse, caches of very sensitive information were stored there. Information that could spell doom for all of the First Generation.

"My sanctum is compromised! How?! Why?!" Frustrated, the youngest member slammed a fist onto his desk, unintentionally causing the half-filled cup to fall and smash into many fragments, spilling the warm beverage onto the floor. "Argh, curse them for breaking in _and_ making me waste a good drink!"

"Six, we cannot lose this project, not while we've gone this far! Those imbeciles have no idea how much progress would go down the drain if it were to be stopped!" One growled.

"I know, don't rush me!" Six hissed, suspiciously like a snake. "I'm having my subordinates to copy the original data and sending them to special hideouts as soon as they can. That group of trigger-happy maniacs which my company has partnered up with shouldn't have too much difficulty dealing with, much less stalling the intruders. Worst case scenario, I'll personally wipe them all out. Six disconnecting."

Switching the frequency to his hidden laboratory, Six gave his instructions in a hasty manner, "All personnel, Code Wither! I repeat, Code Wither! This is not a drill! We must not allow the Resistance to obtain any information regarding Operation Revival!" As soon as it was transmitted to every subordinate, the head scientist stormed down to the secret location.

 _I swear, those Resistance cretins better not have cracked open the vault. Who knows what kind of chaos will erupt if the public discover Operation Revival's true purpose!_

* * *

Preview:

"C'mon, get your lazy behind up! We need to leave while there's still time!"

"Wha...? What's going on?"

"We can play Twenty Questions after we get out of here!"

"Unfortunately for you interlopers, you will not escape this place alive!"

Next time on Evolve and Survive,

Breakout

* * *

 **Here's the new prologue for a revamped Evolve and Survive. It had been a relatively tough decision to rewrite my first story but there had been many problems which I had made starting out, including too many OCs (the ones who I will keep will be stated below) and a lack of direction (I tend to write as soon as I get ideas). Much of, if not the entire reboot will not follow the original, though the scenes in each chapter (excluding the prologue) will be made better than I could've in the past.**

 **For now, the OCs that will remain are [Akari Kimura] from Starlight-Swordswoman, [Alex and Riley Cresent] from SlashPrincessOfHell, [Crimson] from Trynten Wolfchyld Husky, [Astaria, Arjuna and Melodia] from xxX Tigerblade Xxx, [Kylor Altair and Serene Alledia] from ExDraco. I may consider 4 OC slots for Resistance leaders, but it is still in the development phase.**

 **Also from next chapter on, there will be a codex system. In essence, it is a summary of important events occuring before or during the current timeline, characters and factions encountered by the main cast.**

 **That is the basis of my reboot, and it will develop from there. See you in the next chapter!**

 **[StylishDescent logging out]**


	2. Chapter 1: Breakout

StylishDescent (SD): Hey guys, it's me again! After the hiatus, I'm back with the first actual chapter of the re-write, so let's get to it shall we? Since the other characters haven't been introduced yet (though you may know them), let's get Six to do the disclaimers.  
Six: *appears behind SD* Alright.  
SD: *jumps* Wah! Where did you come from?!  
Six: Does it matter? Though I would let you know that I've been playing Assassin's Creed all day long.  
SD: *blinks* O-okay...  
Six: Anyway, the author does not own Pokemon and some of the OCs. Their owners will be stated at the end.

* * *

Last time on Evolve and Survive...

A secret group's meeting was cut short when the member known as Six received an alarm from his safe haven. As he prepares to leave, he could only hope that the vault had not been breached yet for their grand design might be placed in jeopardy.

Chapter 1: Breakout

Prior to 'visiting' the destination, Riley had thought that the high ranking official would have his secret laboratory hidden inside a mansion or some fancy place. Either that, it was a military bunker that he or she would conduct their twisted experiments in. The teenage girl with purple hair clearly did not expect said official to live in a fairly modest house, much less within the Resistance's area of influence.

Whoever they were, it was a very bold move on their part to place a facility in the middle of enemy territory. Of course, there were some comments on the stupidity of the official which she couldn't deny.

Stupid or not, the other members of the seven-man team she was assigned to could care less. "Listen up," the leader of her group called, gaining the attention of everyone else, "our target is a high-value one and we have no idea who this person is, so we are taking anyone in there alive. Bag 'em and get out quickly and hopefully silently, so it should be a clean job. We'll meet back in the backdoor in an hour."

Everyone agreed with the timing, heading off in separate directions in cells of two. All except herself, unsurprisingly to her. She was officially recognised as a Resistance recruit only a couple of weeks ago, and barely three days have passed since being part of this little rag-tag group so she was not trusting of them and apparently the feeling was mutual, even if they did give her a new place to stay and not throw her into the streets because she was one of _those things_.

Riley tugged her dark red jacket tightly and pulled the hood down further to obscure the traits she had unwillingly received, shuddering slightly at the resurfacing memory before she suppressed it. Thankfully, many of her more animalistic traits were small enough to be hidden by her clothing, save the small black tail that had grown from where her tail bone would be.

When she finds the culprit of this heinous crime against humanity, he or she would be fortunate to be captured with a pair of broken bones.

Walking down a hallway, Riley could not help but notice the vine patterns of the wallpaper, combined with the largely green colour and leaves give it a forest-esque theme. Potted plants were also placed against the walls, to which she sweat-dropped. _Does... does this guy overly like nature or something?_ she wondered.

At the end of the hallway, she found herself in front of a door. Putting her left hand on the door knob and turning it slightly, the teenager was almost surprised at the fact that it was unlocked. Anticipating an ambush, Riley had her free hand morph almost painlessly into a paw with three toes, and from each toe extended a razor-sharp claw. Considering her age, the Resistance had not issued her a firearm, so she had to rely on her own abilities for defence. Despite disliking her new appendages, they had proven themselves to help her in fighting back more often than not. Eviscerating her foes with her claws was one example. Slowly, Riley turned the knob and gently pushed the door open before peeking inside.

The bedroom was devoid of anyone. Raising a brow, the purple-haired girl sneaked in and took a glance at the 3 by 4 by 3 room. It was nothing too special if one did not count the obsession with plant-life. A framed photograph above the single bed was the only other thing that made it stand out. A picture of a boy and a girl, both about at least a year younger than her, stood in it. Their outfits matched, a silver full-body suit with a utility belt and a dagger each such that Riley might consider them to be modern day assassins preferring more traditional weaponry. _Are they child soldiers?_ Riley questioned mentally, getting on the bed to examine the photograph more closely.

The boy had unusual, disheleved grey hair whereas the girl had an equally unusual teal straight hair that reached slightly past her shoulders. Skin tone wise, his skin was quite pale while hers was a healthy tan. What caught Riley's eyes was the symbol embalazoned on their outfits; a skull in the middle of a four-point star. Her rage built up slowly, unable to believe that they, already an atrocious lot, would indoctrinate children to fight for their twisted cause. All the more reason to find the official and take him out of the equation so that no more would suffer as she and more than likely, the duo in the picture did.

"I swear it, they will pay," she softly declared, unintentionally gripping the side of the frame when she heard a click. Louder clicks followed, after which came the sound of gears moving. The bed suddenly shook, causing Riley to fall off it and onto the marble flooring with a yelp. "What gives?"

By a mechanism she thought couldn't have been hidden that well, the mattress rose digonally until it was at an angle of about forty-five degrees, revealing a staircase leading to somewhere underground.

"Woah," was all Riley could say as she peered into the darkness. As per what her training before her initiation into the Resistance had taught her, her hand reached into the pocket of her trousers to retrieve a walkie-talkie that is of standard issue by the headquarters, but decided against calling the others.

She simply did not trust them enough to watch her back, and as mentioned earlier, it was pretty much the same feeling on her teammates' end. Besides, she would just go down there, have a estimate on the hidden chamber and its occupants if any, and run out to call the rest. Yes, it sounded like it could work. With that she descended into the depths below.

After what felt like an eternity later, the girl had reached the bottom of the stairs and glared at it. "Seriously, how far down am I? For that matter, which maniac designed this?"

Inky darkness surrounded her but her eyes had easily adjusted themselves to the pitch-black area. Too easily, again she suspected it to be her animal-based side. Both her hands were replaced by claws by now, instinct telling her to keep her guard up at all times. This was especially so in the clearly artifical cave, where a large door stood before her. Beside said entrance was a four-digit code lock, to which she grimaced. _This could take a while..._

"0001?" she questioned as she pressed the respective buttons of the number pad.

"Access denied," came the response.

"0002?"

"Access denied."

"Oh boy..."

Unbeknownst to her, a hidden camera had already spotted her and thus raised the silent alarm.

Twenty minutes of attempting various combinations later and failing all of them, Riley growled in frustration, "Screw it." She promptly tore the number pad open with her frustration-increased strength, the girl ripped out the wires though wincing at the electric shocks. Fortunately, the pain was short-lived as the door became unlocked.

Slowly, Riley entered the hidden chamber which was illuminated by fluorescent lights found near the roof, revealing that it too was empty. However, a styrofoam cup of coffee had been spilled, leaving its contents to stain the otherwise mostly sterile environment. A clue that someone had been here. It was hexagonal prism-shaped with ten metre tall pristine white walls and a huge tank behind a control panel. Light brown fluid that reminded her of aqueous iodine revealed a humanoid silhouette inside the tank, though aside from that Riley couldn't tell any other characteristics.

She moved towards the control pane where a small book was placed on. Curious, she picked it up and skimmed through the hand-written notes until something caught her attention.

"24/12/2115, time-check 1923 hours. This is it, the first Legendary-class Third Generation hybrid," Riley read from the presumed journal, "From our limited deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) samples, we cannot ascertain the species of our ultra-rare Pokemon. However, we might just have a clue. A sword, pulsating with power, was... produced, lack for a better word, with the awakening of that DNA. Before we could procure it, the weapon disappeared. Such a perculiar development, but no matter, I can ask around and with luck, an answer will arrive."

Legendary-class? Third Generation? Riley wondered, curiosity rousing as she flipped to the next page.

"1/1/2116, time-check 0541 hours. According to my sources from Unova, there existed a group of wandering Pokemon coined the Musketeers or the Swords of Justice, namely Cobalion, Terrakion and Virizion. These legendaries were said to possess horns, which are believed to be the 'swords' of these majestic creatures. Until the hybrid is fully developed though, with luck a horn as well, I cannot tell which Sword of Justice is he going to become."

Is this what this guy meant by Legendary-class? Because this 'hybrid' possibly had the DNA of a Legendary Pokemon? But... Pokemon had been extinct for nearly a century! She turned to the next page, hoping to get more answers.

"16/1/2116, time-check 0037 hours. Truly troublesome. This hybrid's horn fits none of the Swords'! Have my colleagues made a mistake, or did I misread somewhere? I pray that neither are not the case as I send them my findings."

"27/1/2116, time-check 2203 hours. Another set of information has been transfered over. I have little time to go over this set, so I'll summarise what I can. Apparently, there was another member that was known to be an apprentice to the Swords of Justice named Keldeo. As luck would have it, they share the same horn, colour and shape. However, the information also stated something about a 'Resolute Forme'. Only time can tell me what it is."

 _Wait, 27th January? That was only a couple of days ago!_ Reading further, she also noticed an additional statement, though this one hastily written (or scribbled) so the hand-writing was far more messy than the previous entries.

"I'd recently changed the password for the release protocol but no one is allowed to proceed with the release unless permission is granted. The new password is..."

As soon as the password was keyed in, a sound reminiscent of water being drained from a tub reveberated throughout the room as the iodine-coloured fluid disappeared from the bottom of the tank. A loud hiss followed suit once the liquid was about three-quarters drained as the pistons of the door that kept the tank shut depressurized. Not long after, the door swung open to the coughing inhabitant inside.

"Oh man," moaned the supposed Legendary-class hybrid, "it feels like my head is in a vice."

From what Riley could tell, he was clearly a guy with tan skin and looked to be around her age. Whatever his hair colour and style was now replaced by long red hair that was mane-like. What stood out like a sore thumb was the single cream horn on his forehead. Oh, did I mention he was only dressed in a pair of boxers? No? Well, he was. Riley's face went red as she adverted her gaze.

He blinked his grey-blue eyes, looking around to find his bearings when he noticed the person in front of him, red-faced and trying not to stare. Then he realized that he was one article of clothing from being naked. His face went a bit red. "Hey now, we're both guys here. Unless... you know, you're homo or bi?" **[Author's note here: I'm not against LGBT, and if this part offends anyone, tell me through review or PM and I will remove the 'homo or bi' bit. I will apologise in advance.]**

Her brow twitched in frustration, tired of people calling her a guy when she was clearly not. At least a couple dozen times, the mistake had been repeated in the Resistance, and many more before her mutations back when life was as normal as it was for her. "Are you gender-blind?! How the hell can you mistake me for a guy?!" she yelled at the boy. Her face was redder, this time largely out of anger.

The boy stared at her in disbelief. _If she's a girl, how is her chest so flat?!_ He gulped when the girl's hands morphed into paws with claws that he was certain they could dismember or rip out his heart effortlessly. "W-what are you, some kind of mutant?"

Riley rolled her eyes, pointing at him. "You're the one to talk, touch your forehead."

Upon doing so, the Keldeo-hybrid yelled in shock. "WHAT THE HELL?! THIS HAS TO BE SOME KIND OF A SICK JOKE! I'M NOT A HUMAN-UNICORN CROSSBREED! Maybe I'm hallucinating, that's right. Calm down Zeliek..." Taking deep breaths to calm down, Zeliek muttered audibly, "Alright, start from the beginning... name's Zeliek Sawyer, age 15, student at Tachion City High, kendo practitioner and definitely not a mutant." He touched his forehead and felt that horn again. "No... this can't be."

Too stunned to make sense of it all, he allowed himself to fall back onto his ass, attempting in vain to convince himself that it was a nightmare he should be waking from in a few minutes. Of course, the female hybrid could sympathise with him, being in a nearly exact predicament as he was.

Approaching the Keldeo-hybrid, the girl kneeled in front of him and snapped her fingers a couple of times. "Listen, Zeliek is it?" When he nodded despondently, she continued, "You aren't the first or only human-turned-freak around here, and I doubt you would be the last, so suck it up for now."

"There are others? Aside from you?"

"Very few in the Resistance, I think," Riley replied, pausing for a moment before adding: "or anywhere to my knowledge, but yes they do exist. Give me a minute, I just remembered something."

Riley reached for her walkie-talkie to update on her status only to receive a call filled with relief from the other end. "Crescent? Thank goodness you're still around," her leader's voice came from the other end, "the others aren't responding and I fear the worst. Meet me at the-"

"Is this the correct channel?" asked another speaker, this one foreign and synthetic.

"Yeah it... WHO ARE YOU?!" her leader questioned, alarmed that someone outside of the group knew their signal.

"Oh, thanks for the response. Sometimes I have problems with this blasted piece of machinery. I mean..." The mysterious person coughed, "Unfortunately for you interlopers, you will not escape this place alive! Before you ask, I have eliminated five of your comrades. Rest assured, as with the others I will make your demises as swift and painless as possible. Good day." With that the interjecting caller killed the connection on his end.

"Dammit! Hurry to the exit!" Her leader too ended the connection.

Turning towards Zeliek, the girl motioned him to follow her. "Come on, we're getting out of here pronto!" The redhead complied, not just because he had no choice in the matter but also the fact that he had no desire to remain in his current location. As they left, the female hybrid held onto the book, figuring that it could of use in the future.

A very long climb to the top later and a couple more mental questions about the sanity of the house owner, the duo got out of the underground, hands on their knees, panting and sweaty. "Remind me... to get this... guy to a mental asylum..." Zeliek wheezed, wiping his forehead. Once they had a brief break, Riley guided them to the rendezvous point. Both of them were naturally on guard, watching out for potential ambushes from their cryptic enemy.

Nearing the exit, they had the back of a man in their sights. Their footsteps alerted him, causing him to whip around with his assault rifle aimed at them, their immediate reactions were to halt movement and raising their arms to calm him down. "Sorry about that, jumpy as hell," he apologised, lowering his weapon. "And I see you've found a civvy."

As he spoke, a shape moved silently behind him, seemingly camouflaged with the environment before the a glint of metal from behind the leader caught the girl's eyes. "Behind you!"

Riley's team leader's eyes widened as pain exploded from his back. As he fell forward, the two hybrids could only watch in horror as the person in white zipped in front of the man and drove something into his chest and pulling out the weapons in a fluid motion. The man dropped motionless in a matter of seconds. With his sixth victim down, he turned his attention to the duo.

* * *

Preview:

"I did not expect you to be here. Such a strange turn of events..."

"Have we met before?"

"That's a story for another time, but I need your indecently dressed acquaintance to return back to his tank peacefully."

"Sorry pal, but that isn't going to happen."

"If you won't listen, then perhaps force is necessary for your compliance."

"Bring it on!"

Next time on Evolve and Survive,

Clash

* * *

SD: And that, readers, end chapter 1. And let's welcome Riley again, sent from twilightcrystalflame!  
Riley: It's been a while author, though it's BlackGeneralNocturna now.  
SD: Really? *checks twice* Yep, you're right.  
Riley: Where's Serpent? I thought he would be here as one of the main characters?  
SD: I'll tell you this much: he's been reborn as another character, otherwise I would be spoiling. Zeliek would his replacement.  
Serpent (from somewhere): WHAT?!  
SD: Don't worry, your new role is still very important in this reboot! Think of your new form as a... video game boss of a saga?  
Serpent: ...  
SD: So here ends chapter one, I thank you all for reading. Constructive reviews are appreciated and we shall see you next time. Oh, and an early Merry Christmas to everyone!  
Everyone: See you all next time, and an early Merry Christmas!


	3. Chapter 2: Clash

StylishDescent (SD): Hey guys, we're back for another chapter of EASR. I don't think I have much to say here, so without further ado, let's start. Zeliek, if you don't mind?  
Zeliek: StylishDescent does not own Pokemon and most of the OCs.

* * *

Chapter 2: Clash

The man in white faced his other opponents, his face having a mask with a character that neither hybrid recognised. He seemed to tilt his head to the side slightly, glancing with his ruby eyes at the girl in particular. "Well, this is a surprise," he spoke in a synthesised voice, sheathing his daggers upon finishing that sentence. "I did not expect you to be here. Such a strange turn of events..."

Riley naturally appeared stunned. "Have we met before? If so, who are you?" She clearly hoped it was just a case of mistaken identity and not a stalker after her. Especially one with the capabilities of an assassin that wiped out six Resistance members without any visible damage. She got into a defensive stance, claws unleashed in an attempt to deter the strange enemy.

"Oh, you may call me Six, as in the number six. As for any form of meeting, maybe we have, I'm not sure if you're her. That's a story for another time," the masked person dismissed with a wave of his hand, then pointed at Zeliek before continuing, "but I need your indecently dressed acquaintance to return back to his tank peacefully. As a display of good will, I will allow you to leave unharmed, no catch. How about it young lady, do we have a deal?"

Riley bit her lip, comtemplating her options carefully. Clearly, fighting the guy was definitely not an option with her slain comrades as examples of failed opposition. From what she could tell, it was highly probable that he was the stealth type: that normally meant that he was incapable or at least poor when in comes to direct combat. However, if she were to lose her sight on him, the odds of having a knife driven into her neck were extremely high.

Then there was taking up the offer. It would get her out unscathed if Six was to keep his word, but to sacrifice someone for her own safety? While the Keldeo hybrid might have been a little more than just a stranger, it just did not sit right with her to give up an innocent for him to suffer even more.

There is only one option...

"I've made my decision."

"And that is?" Six's eyes widened as a fist advanced towards his face. Immediately, he brought up both arms to block the incoming blow. His skeleton rattled with the impact of fist to left arm with a distinct snap of the bones from absorbing the brunt of the punch. That next thing he knew, he was flying down the hallway into a wall that demolished the moment his body crashed into it. Quite a number of bricks from said wall buried the stunned person.

"Sorry pal, but that isn't going to happen," responded Zeliek, cracking his knuckles. It did not hurt as bad as he had thought it would be, and certainly not the strength of his punch either. Regardless, he was not going to complain.

"What the hell are you thinking?!" yelled the purple-haired girl.

"Knocking him out," replied the boy, "It's a little overboard, but hey, he's out of the picture now so we are safe, right?"

Riley stared at him incredulously, then at the pile of concrete and reinforced steel and back at him. As much as she wanted to yell down at Zeliek, she did not have the chance to as the brick and mortar shifted.

"If you won't listen," the masked scientist hissed as he got out of the rubble with his remaining good hand, "then perhaps force is necessary for your compliance." His left arm was now limp, having been nearly destroyed from the blunt force trauma. A nasty blue-black mark would be found under the coat where the punch had landed, and the limb was in bent in impossible angles. Six grimaced at the injury he sustained, feeling spikes of acute pain from something as insignificant as fragments of shattered concrete grazing it. "Dammit, this is going to make it so much more difficult."

Of course, he was only ticked at the Keldeo hybrid, he was almost certain that the girl would not try anything too funny. When he manage to take down the defiant hybrid, he would let her leave unharmed as he had promised. As he rose from the concrete remains, Zeliek gave him a 'come on' gesture and taunted, "Bring it on!"

Six sighed as the boy charged, preparing for the counterattack. His current condition might be terrible, but he had fought with far worse injuries back then. The moment Zeliek threw a fist at him, he ducked under and gave a sweep kick at the other male's legs to trip him. The Water/Fighting dual-type noticed his opponent's move, jumping above the kick with ease and retaliated with one of his own.

Right before his foot was planted on the mask, Six shifted his head's position to the left just enough for the attack to graze harmlessly past the porcelain. With his good hand outstretched, Six grabbed hold of Zeliek's neck and slammed him onto the floor. A fluid motion followed suit and the steel blade of his knife was pressed against the defiant hybrid, a display of finesse even with his arm broken. Zeliek's breath nearly stopped, staring into the red eyes of his potential murderer through the two slits of the mask.

"Tsk tsk, I am no fan of fighting but make no mistake." Six stabbed the floor close enough to carve a thin red line on the younger boy's face before bringing him into a one-handed choke-hold. "My fighting prowess far exceeds yours, so your act of stupidity would have ended in your demise if not for my restrictions," the masked scientist growled, tightening his grip slowly in barely contained rage. He relaxed himself by taking a few composed breaths but for not one moment did he relax his grip.

Zeliek's lungs screamed for oxygen with each passing second. How could someone be that insanely resilient or fast? Well, he was super strong and yet there was no explanation aside from being half-unicorn or something. Darkness crept from the corners of his eyes, threatening to overtake his vision when he noticed Six's head snapping to another direction. Inhuman reflexes were displayed in the form of Six retrieving his knife and back-flipping away from a dark-purple beam, clearly fired by the other occupant in the room. A small explosion rang out, causing shrill ringing to echo in the inexperienced hybrid's ears.

"Dark Pulse," Six grumbled, clenching his weapon of choice tightly. "Blast me a new hole, why don't you?"

First his home had been invaded, next his coffee had gone to waste, third he received a broken arm trying to play nice and now he had to deal with the girl he was trying to avoid fighting. Needless to say, frustration was one of the emotions Six was feeling then. Without a word, he dashed towards the female hybrid with the latter charging at him too. Claw met knife with a metallic clang, creating sparks as the razor sharp organic and inorganic weaponry respectively grinded against each other.

Curiosity was one of the other emotions Six was experiencing. "Why would you defend this... moron?" he asked, "I mean, you would have left without a scratch."

"Idiot or not, I cannot allow scum like you to continue your sick 'experiments' anymore," came her reply, thrusting her other claw at Six's gut. Both ignored the 'hey!' from the aforementioned 'idiot'.

"Noble, I'll give you that," commended the mysterious scientist, using his leg to deflect Riley's second attack. With the same leg, he took a great stride forward and pushed Riley with enough force to stagger her slightly. The opening she left was made an opportunity for Six to smash his broken arm into her like a biological baseball bat. An "oof" was received from the female hybrid as she was knocked back, a pained grunt from the assailant and the crunch of bones being repositioned. Not that it was any better than before, but it had been enough to make it less of a hindrance if he had to use it.

Riley coughed while she stumbled. From what she knew, the makeshift stun-blow was nowhere close to having enough force to knock her out cold. Still, the fairly weak attack made her a tad more angry and with rage came strength for her case. Seeing as to how close her opponent was to her, she charged up another Dark Pulse, channeling the dark energy between her palms. If she was fortunate, the point-blank Dark Pulse would take him out for good.

The purplish glow of the move being charged did not go unnoticed by the more experienced fighter, and time appeared to slow in his eyes. Just as the beam was fired, Six arched back just enough for the Dark Pulse to barely evade the blast of condensed Dark energy. The brief moment of shock on Riley's face was replaced with an expression of severe discomfort as a foot was planted in her gut. Stumbling back coughing, Riley looked up as Six prepared to give her a straight to the face. Then, he stopped mid-punch, a choked sound from him as he slowly looked down. He was restrained from smashing his fist into her face by an intense burning sensation blossoming from his stomach, impaled by a long blade. Naturally he clutched the blood-stained cobalt blade that had run through his belly. Behind him, Zeliek panted as he attempted to push the weapon further in.

The Keldeo-hybrid couldn't remember where or when he got his sword, one with a fiery orange cross guard with a green, orange and blue feather each attached to it. He did know one thing: "We won, so just give up."

A low, albeit pained chuckle escaped Six's lips while he craned his neck towards the swordsman. "If you think that a simple sneak attack like that would end my life, then you are sorely mistaken," Six seemed to chastise Zeliek, though he had some encouraging words to add on. "You'll might get a chance, I assure you, but not now." He turned back to Riley, her claws suddenly pressed against his throat. Behind his mask, his eyes displayed an evident look of surprise for that second. But it was not because of the fact he could have been eliminated then. "Before you decide to decapitate me, I have a message to relay from my superiors and one specifically to you."

"You have twenty seconds," growled the girl, her claws now close enough to draw some blood from the soft tissue.

"According to the boss, the First Generation has made some last-minute consideration that we can make some mutually beneficial partnership. Some information that your Resistance may find very useful for future endeavours, but we will be discreet about the manner in which we send it. As for you Riley Crescent, if you have been wondering what kind of Pokemon you have traits of, it is a Houndour." Then Six faded seemingly into thin air.

Stunned expressions were flashed on both of the hybrids' faces while the distorted voice of Six resounded, "I'll take my leave now and I strongly urge that you two make haste in your escape. HADES will be delayed for less than five minutes."

Zeliek blinked confused. _What was this 'HADES' that would arrive?_ On the other hand, Riley was absolutely horrified. "Oh crap!" Pulling the mostly naked hybrid along, the Houndour hybrid only stopped to grab her fallen leader's walkie-talkie. "What the heck's-"

"HADES," was the slightly taller girl's response, "Point is: they get you, you're dead."

Straight to the point, Zeliek thought while he followed her down a set of corridors and out of a door until a jeep came into view. "Get in," she ordered, vaulting into the driver's seat. "I'll just drive..." Riley slowed, blinking.

"What's wrong?" asked the confused Water/Fighting-type.

She stared at the steering wheel. "Uhh..." Riley paled as she admitted slowly, "Yeah, it just occurred to me. I can't drive."

"Meh, no biggy," dismissed Zeliek, motioning for her to switch seats. "I should be able to."

"Should?! You can't be older than I am, so you shouldn't have a driving license!"

"I don't," Zeliek stated nonchalantly while he started up the jeep, putting on the seat-belt. "Dad taught me himself and he's quite the driver."

"Comforting," the Dark/Fire-type commented dryly while strapping herself in. "Just don't-"

The jeep reversed, crashing into a bunch of trash cans with a noisy rattling sound. A sheepish chuckle came from the Keldeo hybrid while Riley held onto her seat so tightly that her knuckles turned white. "Whoops."

"This isn't a bumper car, you dolt!"

"Hey, I heard something!" came a voice from a nearby ally. "HQ, Cerberus unit moving to investigate!"

"Dammit! Go go go!" Riley shouted at the hybrid in the driver's seat. Figuring he could complain about the ringing in his ears later, Zeliek stepped on the pedal and the jeep roared to life once more. "Floor it!"

A bunch of flashes caught their eyes and gunshots rang into the night. Like any sane people, they brought their heads down while a storm of bullets lanced through the air, embedding into the cushions where their heads had been less than a second before. A quick peek from their hiding spots had Zeliek see, for the first time, the pitch-black military gear of HADES. And they were aiming their assault rifles at their faces.

* * *

Preview:

The jeep bobbed and weaved dangerously while the engine was strained to the limit. Having gone past the speed limit by at least 30 kilometres per hour, it was by sheer miracle that Zeliek had not lost control of the vehicle. The fact the road was apparently empty did help though not by much due to his adrenaline-filled driving.

Adrenaline pumped through Riley's veins as well, firing multiple Dark Pulses at the pursuing vehicles. Her reserves of energy were running low, forcing her to use just enough per shot to eliminate the engines of as many of the armoured vehicles as her current energy level allowed her to.

Suddenly, the pursuing ceased. A strange sound reverberated through the air. Her head tilted up and there was an audible swallow. "Uh... you might wanna go a little faster."

"We're already pushing it... Oh... yeah, gotcha."

Next time on Evolve and Survive,

Chase

* * *

Zeliek: Well, this seems a little disappointing.  
SD: Oh? How so?  
Zeliek: Chapter's a little short, isn't it? I mean, other writers can do it and you've certainly done so at least once prior to the rewrite.  
SD: I know, but time is something I do not have plenty of. The next chapter's probably going to be up after my exams, and I'll try to get it close to 3k. Run along now, I've to finish this up.  
Zeliek: Okay, see you around.  
SD: Well now guys, how's the first battle scene in like about half a year? I'm a little bit rusty, so I'm sorry if it seems short and rushed. Anyways, review this chapter and we'll see you all next time!  
All: See ya!

[StylishDescent logging out]


End file.
